My T.V. guide lists Lost as running five minutes over, and I know from talking to Drew last night that the episode did come in long. Lost normally carries over at least one minute past the hour anyways.

The fact that Lost runs over all the time, makes this my most complicated television night. I tape Smallville on one tv, tape Lost on the other, then nervously switch back and forth to ABC after Smallville is over, being careful not to watch the last few minutes of Lost so that whatever has transpired isn't spoiled, then I rush over to that tv, press stop, rush back into the other room and start taping Alias. It's all very complicated, especially since I'm not even particularly fond of any of those shows.

For Lost, I keep thinking that one day it's going to magically get quite good. For Alias, there have been one or two episodes that I really quite liked even though it mostly bores me, and for Smallville... Tom Welling is pretty and I like the characters of Lois and Lex.

Yes, I noticed the overruns were a strategy NBC started years ago with 'er'. I didn't think they would take, they only piss the audience off. But, apparently, ABC thinks otherwise. Too bad. I would recommend a cable splitter or two.

Madhatter, I thought NBC started that when Friends was up against Survivor and Survivor was killing them? They were constantly advertising these "Supersized" shows that would run into the beginning of Survivor to try and keep that audience staying on NBC.

And Melisande, no offense, but I just don't understand your reasoning, especially where it sounds like what you are doing is a major pain!

I meant why bother if she doesn't really like any of those shows and is just hoping they get better. I've been watching Point Pleasant with my daughter and am hoping that gets better but if something else comes up that I want to watch more and it would be a hassle to tape Point Pleasant, I wouldn't bother with it.

Firefly Flanatic, your statement is most likely spot-on. I've never watched 'Friends' or 'Survivor' so I can't say anyhoo. But, I think our line of thinking is the same. As for these shows in question, good thoughts.

I've been DVRing Alias with Lost, but haven't watched any of them yet. I'm pretty much saving them for a slow weekend, but I honestly don't see one on the horizon, especially with Wonderfalls and As5 on the way…it's almost like being an expectant mother (though the commitment will be 18+ years only if I so choose :o)!

I don't watch anything live anymore since getting my DVR. I record desperate housewives, boston legal, 24, medium, lost, smallville, alias, the oc, and yes..point plesant. I can record 2 shows that are on at the same time so I haven't run into any problems yet. Until tonight. eliza guest starring on That 70's show, Drew penned Lost, and a probably bad episode of Smallville are all on tonight. I guess I can record SV and Lost and watch T70S upstairs. Having 3 tv's is helpful.

Quite right Simon. That would be wrong. I, for one, haven't just upgraded to a 1Mb ADSL line just to make downloading easier. No siree. Not me. (£24.99 PM from Carphone Warehouse, 1mb unlimited plus free evening and weekend nationial phone calls)

Whew, Melisande, you have more grit and determination than I. Most of the time I forget to DVR Smallville and Alias...and therefore miss them alltogether, and I just try and watch Lost when it is on, but usually end up just recording it because I can't stand all the commercials. You really do have quite the work out on Wednesday night. And I, like you, am not crazy about any of these shows.

I just wanted to say, Drew rocked on tonight's Lost! I caught the occasional minutes of Alias when it was on Sundays but I think I'm just going to Netflix it and watch it in order. I like Lost but Whedon spoiled me beyond repair. I don't seem to have the same fervor for any show as I have for Buffy/Firefly/Angel. Oh well...

It's not your imagination, phlebotinin. Everyone raise your hand if you think Drew Goddard or David Fury should write all future episodes of Lost. Yeah, me too.
This was a pretty harsh episode and yet it was one of the most humorous. Mr Goddard actually succeeded in making Kate less annoying. Astonishing!
I found it interesting that there were two scenes with characters drinking because it made me think of the scene he and Fury said was cut from Lies My Parents Told Me with Principal Wood and Spike and a bottle of whiskey. Not much else to say except “Yay Drew!” and recall some of the best lines:
“Perhaps he wanted to go camping.”
“I only made out with him ‘cause torturing him didn’t work.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some revenge to attend to.”
“It peed on my shirt!”

I don't know Javier has written some pretty solid episodes of Lost, but yah I concur that David Fury has done a few of my faves thus far.

as for my fandom of Lost and Alias, I don't really feel like comparing Buffy/Angel or Firefly to them.

It's kind of like comparing most books to Shakespeare, or all fantasy to Tolkein. Or all dramas to Citizen Kane. All mafia films to the godfather. Every sci-fi flick to Star Wars. Every adventure to Indiana Jones.

Every medium is going to have it's standouts, and most of it's competition won't live up to it. However I find myself greatly enjoying the two hours a week I put in to Lost and Alias. They're both very good shows. But let's fact it NOTHING will ever live up the Whedonverse (At least to us hardcore fans of his).

Heck even X-files at it's best can't live up to the majesty that was these 13 seasons.

I saw Lost last night without realizing it was written by Drew. If I'd read that before it aired, I forgot. However, by the time we got to the point where Sawyer's in the rain and he just shot the wrong man, and the fallen innocent's words are so spot on to what an innocent guy would be saying in that moment of confusion and pain and mortality.. I shoulda known it had the mark of an M.E. alum.

Lost isn't Buffy, but this year it is the closest thing to a 'must see' program that I've got on my docket. The West Wing comes in at a distant second in must-seeness, so Lost going over a couple minutes ticks me off. I miss the first bit of West Wing. No I don't have Tivo, and my VCR's recording ability has seen better days.

Everything else on prime time is fair to poor. CSI Vegas is losing its appeal, and her sister shows on the east coast interest me less. Joan of Arcadia has lost its novelty and just feels like a soap opera now. Star Trek Enterprise is a train wreck. NUMB3RS is pretty damn good, but a novelty like Joan was a year ago.

Alias may be good. I hear people rant and rave about it. I don't get it. The characters don't interest me. The plot twists and turns that the series has gone through feel like audience manipulation and poor plot arc construction resulting in lemons-into-lemonade producing mindsets. I don't like watching it. I don't believe Gardner in the role of super spy. I could care less whose side she's on or if she hates her daddy or is some cult's savior personified. I know more about the show than I care to know, and have only managed to stomach a half dozen episodes or so. Maybe someday I'll get the DVDs, watch them in order, and fall in love with Alias like I fell in love with Buffy on season six. At least BtVS had Seth Green in the early seasons so I had something nice to say about it. "I like the werewolf guy. He's cool.." I can't think of anything nice about Alias that would cause me to want to engross myself in that world. 24 is roughly my same opinion as Alias. Manipulative plot progression with characters that I wouldn't want to meet during a sporting event. Maybe someday I'll watch the DVD, but I'm in no hurry to be proven wrong.

On principle, I don't watch Boston Legal, Without A Trace, Cold Case, the recycled Law and Order franchise, or pretty much any series that focuses on lawyers or doctors. It's all cookie cutter Mystery-of-the-week writing, and Perry Mason did that much better many decades ago. Watching Desperate Housewives feels like a frontal lobotomy. Extreme Makeover Home Edition gives me cavities. Charmed gives me gas. Pretty much everything on the WB from Summerland to One Tree Hill is skippable. Yes that includes Smallville. I left when Lois Lane stepped in prematurely. And now I hear they brought in Krypto a few seasons too late? I left just in time.

Crossing Jordan and Vegas are for me guilty pleasures. I enjoy them but for some reason I feel like I shouldn't be encouraging such cookie cutter plots and flat but whimsical characters. I can take or leave those two shows. I liked Crossing Jordan better before they had to "fix" it. Now it's just CSI Lite, although Miguel Ferrer's a rare brilliant actor who does so much with so little, and Jerry O'Connell has gone from "My Secret Identity" to a mature and engaging talent. Honestly though, what keeps me from pushing the remote are the babes in Vegas and Jordan. My higher cerebral functions get short-circuited by the hormonal imbalances caused by talented slinky females. Nice eye candy, but that doesn't make a show must-see. Otherwise, Baywatch woulda been Shakespeare.

For some reason I've never seen an episode of Veronica Mars. Looking at the upcoming schedule next Tuesday.. I don't see that it has any competition for my attention. Until last week it wasn't even a consideration, but if Alyson Hannigan might appear again, I might give it a chance.

I find I look forward to the next episode of Lost, and am disappointed whenever it's a rerun. The rest of prime time is a shrug. That really says something. I hadn't really thought about it until writing out this rant, but Lost is without a doubt the best show on television right now. I don't know if it's because there's veterans of Mutant Enemy in the mix or not, but that's probably an ingredient in what makes Lost such a special recipe.

Yeah, that was one Lost episode to write home about. I just watched the episode, which I didn't download since I live in Sweden *ehum*, and it's probably my favorite so far, even though it focused on Sawyer who bugs me. Perhaps the pilot was better but that's it. On a related note, I'm beginning to think that the Ultimate Drew is too good for TV. He should move on to movies I think.

You should definately start watching Veronica Mars. Kristen Bell has such magnetic charisma it's almost on par with Willow and the show in really captivating. If you watch it from the beginning, don't judge the show after the pilot, that wasn't a very good episode and it didn't captivate me right away. But after about 3-4 episode I was totally hooked and now it has managed to kick Lost off the top spot as the most interesting show this year. And with Aly being a regular guest, it's even more interesting now. Can't wait 'til new week.